Sixth in rankings, Sameer inches closer to Tour Finals
NEW DELHI: With big guns K Srikanth and HS Prannoy battling poor form, Sameer Verma emerged as the best-placed Indian in the race for a place in the BWF World Tour Finals with two-thirds of the season completed.
Sameer, who had clinched the Swiss Open earlier this year, remained in the hunt to qualify for the season-ending event as he is currently in the sixth place in Race to Guangzhou Rankings.
However, Srikanth, who had an exceptional season last year, languished at 41st place as his best finish this season was a semi-final at the Malaysia Open. Prannoy, who had a topsy-turvy year with a series of injuries, was at the 42nd place.
In women’s singles, Olympic and World Championship silver medallist P V Sindhu was firmly at the second place, while Saina Nehwal was at 27th.
The BWF World Tour Finals will be held from December 12 to 16 at Guangzhou, China and only the top eight players in each of the five disciplines of the HSBC Race to Guangzhou Rankings will qualify to compete in the season finale.
VERMA TO FACE GURUSAIDUTT IN SEMIS
HYDERABAD: Indian shuttlers Sameer Verma and RMV Gurusaidutt set up a semi-final clash after staving off spirited challenge from their respective opponents in the men’s singles of the $75,000 BWF Tour Super 100 tournament on Friday.
Top seed Sameer dig deep to outwit compatriot Pratul Joshi 16-21, 26-24, 21-7 in a match that lasted 55 minutes.
Gurusaidutt, a former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, recovered from a game down to outwit Malaysia’s Lim Chi Wing 13-21, 22-20, 21-11 in a 59-minute quarterfinal match.
Among other Indians in fray, Commonwealth Games silver medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty outclassed India’s Tarun Kona and Malaysia’s Lim Khim Wah 21-13 21-10 to sail into the last four.